POLOKWANE – It appears that the recent death of a biker in the city has raised more questions than delivered answers.
Family members and friends of the murdered Justin de Freitas (33) contacted Review to share their concerns.
The people who spoke to Review did so on condition of anonymity in the interest of their personal safety.
They said they had been threatened when discussing the murder or leaving posts on Facebook.
A source close to the De Freitas family said the family was even lied to about Justin’s time of death.
He said the family had been warned by police officials not to ask anymore questions as it would not be safe for them to do so.
The Middelburg Observer, also a Caxton newspaper, reported on the murder and confirmed that a picture of Justin’s bloody clothing was in their possession.
Review is also in possession of the photo.
Justin’s family and friends questioned the competency of the investigating officer, especially in light of the fact the photo mentioned was seemingly leaked by a police official.
According to some of Justin’s friends, the first police official to be on the scene was there not because a murder had been reported, but because a complaint of disturbing the peace had been made.
Some days after Justin’s death, the family tried to contact the investigating police official to follow up on the case.
“They were contacted anonymously and told to stop contacting him and to forget about the case,” the family friend said.
According to independent bikers in the city, they had been sworn to secrecy when it came to the events of the night Justin was murdered.
They said there had been rumours that items had been moved from the crime scene before the police arrived. De Freitas family members told Review that two knives were found concealed in Justin’s boots but the family was not permitted to see or identify the knives. The family further claimed that the knives did not belong to Justin.
So far none of the people who had been threatened had reported this to the police, according to one of the family’s friends.
He could not say whether any case in this regard would be opened in future.
Westenburg police station spokesperson, Capt Mohlaka Mashiane said the family and anyone else involved who had been threatened should they come forward and report these incidents so that criminal cases would be opened.
Justin died in the early hours of Saturday, July 4 after an alleged argument between him and murder-accused Paul Carr, during which Carr allegedly stabbed De Freitas with a knife.
Carr appeared before the Polokwane magistrate’s court and was released on R1 500 bail.
He was also warned not to influence any witnesses in the case, or to leave the country.
Carr is also involved in a case of culpable homicide after a 27-year-old woman died in October 2014 in an accident that occurred in Middelburg.
Carr is due to appear before the Polokwane magistrate’s court in September regarding Justin’s murder. Anyone with information regarding Justin’s murder can contact the Westenburg police station at (015) 292 9410.
Bikers take stand against drugs in city
